Upgraded to AKL, Tips or advice?

[BrerStitch]

Hi all...

The DH and I are sooooo excited! Due to free dining we were able to afford to upgrade to the AKL! This will be our first time staying there. What kind of tips or advice can you share with us? How is the transportation? Best time of day to see the animals? Anything else?

We're aware of the construction, but willing to stay there anyway. Send us your thoughts! And hurray for the free dining!

[NJGIRL]

We stayed on the Zebra Trail/ Arusha Rock 2nd Floor and the view was great. The animals were more active in the morning.

We didn't use their transportation because we always rent a car. I did hear several people complaining about Disney transportation all thur our trip the last time. We had friends staying at one of the Disney resorts and we were meeting them at EPCOT. We both left our hotels at the same time but they took Disney transportation and we ended up waiting 30 mins for them to arrive.

One tip about AKL. They have a campfire outside the lobby doors every night. There are rocking chairs around the fire. Very relaxing

Make sure you have breakfast at BOMA.

[Tinkerfreak]

Make sure to make some time for just relaxing and taking in the atmosphere of the AKL. It truly is a unique experience. On our first trip to Disney we only stayed for 4 nights and did not have much time to enjoy the resort. We went back the next year for a week just to make sure we had plenty of time to enjoy the pool and the many little areas to just sit, relax and take it all in. Definatley try Boma, it is our favorite place to eat.

[Yano]

I also will stay in AKL even though they have construction. I have stayed there the last two times, and will do so this trip which is the day after tomorrow, I am so exited .
as for the transportation, AKL does not share the basses with any other hotels so there are no frequent stops going to and from the parks, which is great. we usually waited no more than 10mins to get a bus.
try to request the Zebra trail, as the previous poster mentioned. in addition to the Boma, don’t forget to try the Mara it is a CS service, we usually start our day their, with the dinning plan between me, my DH, and 3 kids we shared two or three meals, and still took some extra with us to the parks (like water, milk, etc.)
have a great trip.

[Goofy Dad 13]

We are going back to AKL in August, can't bring ourselves to stay anywhere else.

Others are correct about the Zebra trail, but the last two times we have bee happy on the Kudu trail as well.

Do not forget about the animals at night, we often sit and watch them after we return from the parks.

Transportation, only the occasional delay, otherwise, we have been very satisfied with it (we usually take it over driving ourselves even though we rent a car). The two places it took longer than expected are downtown disney and the Blizzard Beach.

Have a great time!

[Mousefever]

We were quite happy with the bus transportation. It seemed like we almost walked right on numerous times.

There are often African CMs who give presentations on their home country in a little alcove off the main lobby. We saw one by a young guy from Tanzania who had incredible stories about growing up in a huge national park. It's really worth the time spent. I'm sure the front desk/concierge will have a list of the times.

[thejens]

I agree about taking time to enjoy the resort. We didn't allow much time and so on our last day we left for our drive home much later than we planned so we could enjoy the pool! There is a great relaxing hidden jacuzzi in the back, lots of animal viewing areas, neat things for the kids to do. Even the gift shop is really exotic. Boma is the best. Mara was good too. Someday we'll try Jiko. Although we had a Savannah room, we don't spend much time in the room. For us a regular room would be fine. We watched the animals more from the corridor windows and from the pool patio than we did from our balcony!!! Enjoy!

[DizneyRox]

At check-in, make sure you ask about the daily activities. There's a lot going on around the resort pretty much all day. It is also my favorite resort, but has lately been competing with the Beach Club and Boardwalk.

We have never had any transportation problems at AKL. I'm not sure what the problems are all about. It's a little more isolated than the other deluxe hotels, but we're only talking probably an extra 5 minutes on a bus that's usually not very crowded at all.